I'll Stay
by Essinia
Summary: A man whose wife plans to leave him takes a moment to reflect on the bridge, and just when he feels it's all for naught an unexpected visitor helps him with his troubles.


He'd been through enough in his life to realize now that he had a big problem. He was going to lose everything, and he knew his if that happened his wife would not stay. He went broke, lost his job, most of his money, and the tranquility of his life. It used to be that he would come home to a happy family, calm, peaceful and loving. Now he walked in and the air was tense and unbearable.

His beautiful wife, with her lovely red hair, green eyes like emeralds and cute freckles lining her normally calm and happy features were now lining the angered and frustrated face. He stood outside of his house; the one he would be losing soon, he mused to himself, pulling out a cigarette, lighting it, and taking a quick drag as he started at the view of London, the drizzle falling silently onto the tall buildings. He took another drag of his cigarette, deciding to take a small walk to take his mind off of everything in his life. He pulled the collar of his jacket up, blocking his neck from the cold breezes that blew by his face, making his nose and ears turn a bright red. The streets were deserted, besides a stray family making their way to their favorite diners or pubs. He looked both ways like a good gentleman, before running across the wet streets. He continued his trek to no where in particular.

Taking a quick right, he walked slowly onto the bridge. He made his way towards the middle and halted his steps looking out at the channel. The water swayed back and forth, hypnotizing him with calming thoughts about how his life could be better if he hadn't screwed up that one time. He leaned against the side of the bridge taking a look at his watch. Time sure flew by; it was pretty late now, not like he could tell with this weather, since it was always dark and dreary here. He turned to leave, but he was puzzled when he saw a small ivory dove sitting next to him on the bridge. He stared at it, raising an eyebrow, confused as to why it sat so close to him without fluttering away. He took a chance and meekly reached his hand out to pat the top of the dove's head. The dove nibbled on his finger, he let out a very unmanly squeal pulling his hand away. "Bloody hell you blasted bird that hurt." The bird tilted it's head, flapping its' wings, spraying small amounts of drizzle around it. What the bird did next shocked him more than anything; it spoke to him. He swore he must have been on something. "I hear you have a problem mister." He was struck silent for a very long time, so silent that he could hear the ticking of his watch even through the birds constant chirping and flapping. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he replied, " Y-yeah I have a problem, my life has fallen to itty bitty pieces, I lost my job, my house is getting taken, and my wife….my wife is going to leave me."

The dove flew over to his shoulder." Well I am here to help you," the dove spoke proudly," I am no ordinary dove." The dove paused giving him a moment to think to himself, well no duh, most doves don't talk. "I am a pooka or, as you people call us nowadays, a fairy." He stared at the bird, looking at it as though it had a second head. Pookas, those were the old fairy tales his mom used to tell him about back when he lived in Ireland; he hadn't thought they actually existed.

He jumped as he felt the dove stick its' talons into his shoulder; it wasn't so much the small amount of pain that was sent through his body like a wave, it was more the surprise when the dove told him. "Hang on we're going to the fairy realm to get you some help." The bird squawked as it started fluttering it's small, but seemingly powerful wings up and down quickly. He didn't close his eyes through the whole trip to the other 'dimension' so to speak; it felt like a whirlwind blew by him. When they finally landed, he collapsed to the ground, the wind practically knocked out of him. When he looked up, he noticed the bird do something rather odd before it changed it's shape to a taller than he expected woman with golden wings coming from her back.

The bird pecked at the ground three times he didn't know why, he didn't care why; the behavior just struck him as abnormal. She knelt down holding her hand out for him, which he took gratefully. She pulled him up and gestured for him to follow. They walked for what seemed like hours, he took in the sights staring dreamily off into the distance. He snapped out of it when he felt the young fairy tap his shoulder and point at something in front of them. "That is the palace of our home land it is where our King resides." He looked and was almost floored by the palace. It stood tall and proud like the Christian church that was close to his home. As they got closer the fairy woman stopped and turned towards him. "I realized now that I never introduced myself. My name is Piper," she gestured to herself slowly. He stared for a moment; he hadn't even noticed that, but he quickly recovered. "Ah yes, well my name is Arthur. I suppose saying it's a pleasure to meet you is a bit of an understatement." She smiled, nodding curtly as she grabbed his hand and pulled him along the lighted pathway towards the front of the castle, where he heard music playing, flowing through his ears like the water at home.

They ventured through the party, where he pulled both of them to a stop as he just gawked at the dancing. He hadn't danced in ages; he never felt that he could anymore with all the bad times he'd been going through. The dancers all paused for a moment, each of them turning their heads towards him one after the other. Slowly they walked closer to him, all of their eyes filled with small traces of curiosity and confusion. One of the younger ones, or so he thought, smiled grabbing his hand and placing a small ring with an emerald the color of his wife's eyes. He stared in awe at the lovely thing. Was this for him? Or was he mistaken? He looked towards his companion, the need for assistance apparent on his face, she just smiled softly and nodded, so he pocketed the ring. Another one of the fairies walked up to him. He stood only a few centimeters shorter than himself. The male pulled out a bag of coins. "With these gifts we hope that we have helped you understand what is most important." Piper grinned as she grabbed his hand once again, dragging him away as he waved towards his new found companions.

He was dragged through the large doors of the castle. The halls were just a gorgeous as the outside, windows colored with stained glass, tales that he had heard as a small child. He crashed into the back of his companion when she abruptly stopped, quickly recollecting himself so he didn't go toppling over like a fool at his first time at the ice rink. His eyes traveled to the tall, proud man in front of him sitting atop his throne. He held a golden staff that was the same color as his glorious wings. He stood a constant emotion of solitude remained on his angled features. "Piper, why is it that you have brought this human to me?" He spoke in his low voice. She immediately bowed. "He seemed down on his luck sir, and, well, I figured maybe you could help him." The King stood in his place, his hand moving to his chin stroking the non-existent beard as he thought. The tall man walked towards his throne. "What you seek is not what you think. You believe if you can save your house and find a job that all will be well, but that is not true. Think what is truly important to you and fix that before everything." Arthur blinked, he almost didn't get it, until his fairy companion placed a hand onto his shoulder and smiled knowingly. She grabbed his hand once again. "Time to go home," she mumbled, more to herself than to him.

The trip back was no more comfortable than the trip there, but when he landed on the bridge and looked down at his watch, he realized it was still the same time. Standing up and dusting himself off, he looked around, but sadly he did not spot his companion anywhere. He sighed, placing his hand into his pocket pulling out the ring and the bag of coins. He stared at them remembering what the King had said to him. With that he tossed the bag of coins which, unknown to him, had disappeared as soon as he landed on the bridge into a bag of acorns. He sprinted home, taking every short cut he knew to get there as quickly as he possibly could. Slamming open his door, he walked over to his wife and pulled her into a hug, slipping the ring onto her finger. "I'm sorry, I haven't been here enough. I'm sorry I wasn't able to fix all this, but please stay with me so I can get the chance to make things right." She didn't answer. Instead she smiled and pulled him into a tight hug whispering a small 'of course I'll stay' into his ear.


End file.
